Locally-produced food prepared by “Hell’s Kitchen” Chef Michael Langdon will be on the menu on Sunday, Oct. 5, along with locally-brewed wine and beer, for the North Branch Land Trust’s (NBLT) third annual Taste the Local Harvest event at Huntsville Golf Club, Dallas.

The event, to be held from 5 to 9 p.m., will also feature music by Scranton bluegrass band Coal Town Rounders, football with access to the NFL Sunday Ticket and information about the land trust, as well as various local agricultural entities.

NBLT Executive Director Paul Lumia said Taste the Local Harvest is not so much a fundraiser as it is a friendraiser.

“We try to keep the ticket price down just to cover our costs,” he said, “so we can get people out to the event, so they can learn a little bit about what the land trust does and how we interact with local agriculture. Basically, it’s a nice way to kind of get everyone together, eat some locally-grown food, beer, wine, that kind of thing.”

Tickets are $50 and can be obtained by contacting NBLT at 570-696-5545, [email protected] or www.nblt.org or the Huntsville Golf Club at 570-674-6545 or [email protected]

NBLT was formed in 1993 and has since conserved roughly 15,000 acres of land in and around the Wyoming Valley. Lumia described the trust’s mission as the protection of lands that are important to the local environment and agricultural community — everything from scenic views, to farms to watersheds.

“People in our valley see an importance for those things,” he said, “so we feel that it’s good to protect those parcels of land that are important to people.”

The organization does this in various ways, working with land owners, farmers and municipalities. Most of the land conserved by NBLT is done so via the donation of development rights, as well as some actual property donations and purchases.

The last two years’ Taste the Local Harvest events were almost sold out, and Lumia shopes for another great crowd this year so more people can learn about the organization and what it stands for.

“It’s just very casual, buffet-style, come when you want, leave when you want, that kind of thing,” he said. “It’s not a very formal event. We feel it’s just a good way to connect people to what we’re doing and what local agriculture is doing.”